To kick off this post let me say that I am not a Giant x-men fan but I am aware of the basic stuff within the universe. With that out of the way I bring myself to write about my experience the new x-men movie. It has struck me in a way that no other x-men film or comic has and as I am writing I'm still not quite sure why but it is slowly coming together. You see while watching the movie my friend pointed out to me that there was several plot holes in relation to the previous x-men films and as First Class was intended to be a prequel not everything made sense. As the thought of plot holes sat inside my head it slowly began to evolve as I slowly began to realize that all of the marvel movies didn't follow the comics, but to me as to many of you I assume this is nothing new. It arguably impossible to cram the story of any single character with a 30+ year history into a 2 hour movie, so things get cut and adapted to create a better and more entertaining film. Along with that is the idea of trying to bridge several movies together and intertwine the marvel universe so as to replicate the comics. I must digress the idea of a film clone of a marvel universe from the comics has never been a pleasant thought but not because it cant be done but because the universe has always felt flawed. The die hard comics fans might(scratch that, put in will) disagree but the web that has been created from the various marvel characters over the years has began to suffocate itself. On top of this, the issue of conflicting mythos as ultra powerful characters with everyone from magicians to clones were placed along every other hero on the planet and had never seeming been able to meet before or hear about each others marvels(pun intended). To say the least it pulled me out of the experience as I tried to avoid getting caught up with the different cameos and guest appearances. The blame may rest partly with me as I haven't made the effort to go back through all of the comic book series in the marvel universe and understand how they connect. To be fair there is a lot of comics to read but Wikipedia can certainly summarize the universe in less than an hour but is that what I have to do as a reader to understand the newer comics. To make matters worse print media has began its decent into the history books(irony in that statement) and as world watches the comics that have survived many a test of time and history once again being drawn into a slump. However not unlike the hero that rises from the ashes to prove his strength comics have found the digital medium. A combination of ones and zeros that appears on our Ipads and computer screens to create a new comic experience. However the real picture lies somewhere in between the first two that have just been painted for you. The digital medium has yet to take off the same way that comics originally did in print and the Physical comics are not quite gone and carry a found nostalgia for physical paper. It is a transition state and it is at this point that things can go either way. DC comics has decided to restart the counter on all of its franchises and attempt to recreate the comic empire for a new audience before they are consumed by other media. I love marvel comics and believe that they should attempt to do the same and reset the clock but at the same time remember the lessons that they have learned. The characters can be adapted for a new audience who clamors for much the same which Stan Lee initially did for spider-man and in some ways x-men and Iron Man. He created characters who were not only recognizable but were easy to associate with. Spider-man as well as the x-men were based on teenage life of these heros and the problems that the teens encountered. Fans became drawn in to a world that was as much their own as it was X-men's or spider-man's or even iron man's (who hit a different character note but was still easily acceptable/likable). As the comics have matured and as the universe has grown I believe that marvel has lost that very thing that made their comics a desirable escape for adults and kids alike. It is only now that I return to the topic of the movie with a much better understanding of why it has gripped me in the same way that recent marvel movies have(iron man). It is the associable characters breaking away from the constraints of the universe that marvel has created due to the constraints of creating a two hour movie that is fit for and audience in 2011. An audience that can associate with a living drinking and partying young telepathic professor rather than a telepathic old monk who leads the x-men. It is the connections like this the permeate the movie and bathe it with character ooze that connects you to the character making you feel like a part of the world. The X- men have the same teenage problems that everyone out there has but they must deal with in their own ways serving as the heros for many a reader or viewer. At the end of the day its not the super powers that make them the hero's for many people its their character problems or failures and succeses that strike a bond between them and the audience like no other franchise has done. And while I realise that the title for this post may not be appropriate and that I may have gone off in a completely different direction I feel that I have reached an inner satisfaction. The movie will perhaps have to wait for another post. Cheers true beleiver, and here's to hoping for an x-men second class